Oisín

Born with congenital glaucoma, he didn’t want to be the boy that stood out. He didn’t want to be left behind either. At ChildVision, see how we’re helping Oisín to chart a new course…

A device called an ahmed valve helps to control the painful pressure in his eyes that has been with him since birth. He is on five different eye drops daily. It is expected that this will always be the case. Four years ago he came to ChildVision to have his vision assessed. He learned about our donor-funded summer camp, and attended. By the time September rolled around, he knew that becoming a residential student at ChildVision was the path for him – again made possible due to your support.

“His condition is hereditary, but we can’t trace it in our family. As a baby his eyes were constantly streaming and enlarged. But his character, his good heart…there’s something very special about him.”— Oisín’s mum, Iona

Oisín just did his Junior Cert. He had a reader and a scribe for the exams, but it’s the adaptive technologies at ChildVision that have been instrumental in getting him there: a laptop that includes zoomtext, an enlarged mouse pointer, and white text on black background that reads at triple the usual size, plus an iPad equipped with Daisy files – the emerging world standard in digital talking books – and many, many other tools as well.

ChildVision’s staff has been equally instrumental. Says mum Iona, “He has so much help, the support of the staff in the residential houses help him through the study – trying to do it all myself could have been heartbreaking for him.” Oisín is starting to chart a new course. And if he has any say in the matter, it will be a meaningful investment. “Oisín wants to study politics or law, so that he can be a voice for the visually impaired,” reports his mum. Her face radiates pride and gratitude, hinting at a journey that can’t have been easy. “It’s been a rollercoaster. But he’s made it easier for me, every step of the way. It’s like Oisín is holding my hand rather than me holding his.”